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Days before construction workers had finished plodding through punch-list items on the Harahan Bridge boardwalk, a British Broadcasting Corp. film crew showed up to shoot a segment on the so-called Big River Crossing and a European network documented a German bicyclist pedaling over the Mississippi River span as part of a coast-to-coast adventure.

The far-flung coverage served to underscore what local officials and proponents have been saying about the $18 million boardwalk that opens to the public at 1 p.m. Saturday: It will be a major — and potentially international — draw in the emerging field of adventure and outdoor tourism.

"It's kind of a signature piece, not just for the city but the region," said John Paul Shaffer, program director for the group Livable Memphis, which supports bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

At 10 feet wide and 4,827 feet long, the boardwalk built on the Harahan, a 100-year-old railroad bridge just south of Downtown Memphis, will carry a number of superlatives once it opens, according to the public-private partnership behind the project. It'll be the longest bicycle-pedestrian bridge in the U.S. that's situated on a span still used by trains. It also will be the longest public cycling and walking bridge over the Mississippi.

A concept that's some 40 years in the making, the boardwalk is the centerpiece of the $40 million Main to Main Intermodal Connector project linking the downtowns of Memphis and West Memphis. It was funded in part through a federal Transportation Improvement Generating Economic Recovery grant, along with contributions from state and local governments and private sources.

The project took two years to build, but perhaps the most complicated phase came before construction. The Big River Crossing group had to secure cooperation from Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the rail portion of the span, and abide by the varying regulations and funding requirements of state, federal and local governments and private entities paying for it. There were special safety and security requirements, such as anti-climb mesh to keep users from trespassing onto the railroad, as well as dozens of tilt-pan-zoom security cameras transmitting live images to Memphis police.

"Technically, it wasn't overly challenging," said Harry Pratt, technical project manager for Big River Crossing. "The thing that made it so challenging and unique was that there were so many stakeholders."

September 19, 2016 - A barge travels along the Mississippi River during a tour of the Harahan Bridge on Monday. The Harahan Bridge boardwalk is scheduled to open on October 22. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) Yalonda M. James, The Commercial Appeal

February 10, 1999 - The north side of the Harahan Bridge still has the framework where a roadbed once carried traffic between Arkansas and Tennessee. This photograph was taken looking to the west. The south side of the bridge has a similar structure. Fire destroyed the original decking, leaving only the steel supports. Arkansas and Tennessee highway officials want to redeck the old vehicle lanes to allow bicycle and pedestrian traffic on the bridge.
Dave Darnell

This aerial view of early construction of the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, circa 1946, shows piers in place on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The bridge opened to traffic in 1949. The Harahan Bridge, which was completed in 1916, is at left. The Frisco Railroad Bridge, in center, was completed in 1892. The Commercial Appeal files. The Commercial Appeal files, The Commercial Appeal

The Frisco and Harahan Bridges circa 1935. The Frisco was built by the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroad and got is name when the Frisco Railroad bought that line, and the bridge, in 1903. It was primarily a railroad bridge, although wagons and carriages could cross on planks laid between the rails. This traffic wasn't exactly encouraged, however. The bridge opening ceremony on May 12, 1892 drew a crowd of some 50,000. The Harahan (right) was authorized by an act of Congress in 1912 and opened to rail traffic in July, 1916. The first cars crossed the roadways suspended along the sides in August of 1917. A long wooden trestle on the Arkansas side made it something of an adventure. A new viaduct leading to the bridges on the Arkansas side was completed in 1930. The bridge was named for James T. Harahan, a former railroad executive in Memphis who was president of the Illinoic Central from 1906 to 1911. He was killed in a train wreck in 1912. World War I forced cancellation of an opening ceremony for the Harahan. (Courtesy Memphis/Shelby County Public Library & Information Center) CA files, Memphis/Shelby Co Public Library

The Harahan Bridge, at right behind the base of the Frisco Bridge, may be renamed the Big River Crossing when the northern side of the still-active railroad bridge is transformed into a bike and pedestrian friendly boardwalk linking Memphis to Arkansas across the Mississippi River. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal) Mike Brown, The Commercial Appeal

March, 1955 - An undeveloped President's Island at lower left is photographed in March 1955. Jack Carley Causeway cuts diagonally across the center of the photograph and runs into what was to become Channel Avenue at lower left. McKellar Lake is seen at lower right. The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, the Frisco Railraod Bridge and the Harahan Bridge cross the Mississippi River at upper left center. Photograph taken looking toward the north. (Barney Sellers/The Commercial Appeal files) Barney Sellers, The Commercial Appeal

September 19, 2016 - Developer Henry Turley belts out a laugh as he tours the Harahan Bridge with Harry J. Pratt, III, president of Allen & Hoshall, on Monday. The Harahan Bridge boardwalk is scheduled to open on October 22. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) Yalonda M. James, The Commercial Appeal

June 17, 2015 - Jeff Webb, Ferrell Paving labor tech, jumps off a new bike and pedestrian bridge being installed alongside Channel 3 Drive at Riverside Drive. The new bike and pedestrian bridge is part of the Main Street To Main Street multimodal connector project and approach to the Harahan Bridge, a 10-mile corridor from Main Street Memphis to Broadway in West Memphis. The new bike and pedestrian bridge was designed to echo the look of the Harahan Bridge. The Main to Main project is expected to be completed by the end of next year. (Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal) Nikki Boertman, The Commercial Appeal

September 19, 2016 - A truck travels west on the I-55 bridge towards Arkansas during a tour of the Harahan Bridge on Monday. The Harahan Bridge boardwalk is scheduled to open on October 22. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) Yalonda M. James, The Commercial Appeal

October 22, 2015 - The St. Francis levee, which the Harahan Bridge Boardwalk will connect with. The path along the levee headed south, will make a 73 mile long trail to Marianna Arkansas. (Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal) Nikki Boertman, The Commercial Appeal

November 7, 2013 - The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge (from left), Frisco Bridge and Harahan Bridge are seen from below on the Memphis side of the Mississippi River. Work will soon begin transforming the northern side of the Harahan Bridge into a pedestrian and bike friendly boardwalk. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal) Mike Brown, The Commercial Appeal

January 21, 2011 - Plans are being discussed to repurpose the former automobile lanes of the Harahan bridge as a pedestrian bridge over the Mississippi River between Memphis and Arkansas. (Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal) Brandon Dill

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Festooned with more than 100,000 LED "light points" that create a brilliant and dynamic lighting display, the boardwalk is installed on the north side of the bridge on one of two cantilevered decks that for more than three decades accommodated "carriageways" carrying cars and trucks across the Mississippi. The views both from the boardwalk — a sweeping vista of the river and Downtown — and of the finished span itself will be impressive, project officials say.

"It sort of takes your breath away," said Doug Carpenter, whose firm built the brand for the Big River Crossing and the Delta Regional River Park being developed on the Arkansas bank.

The boardwalk will have traffic-counting equipment, but Carpenter acknowledged he had "not a clue" as to how many cyclists and pedestrians will use it. He did say he expects the number to be "significant," including not just cyclists but train and bridge aficionados and hobbyists who like to cross state lines on foot.

Traffic likely will be enhanced by trail connections on the Arkansas side. After crossing the boardwalk, cyclists and hikers will be able to connect with the 73-mile Big River Trail, which runs along the mainline Mississippi River from Marion to Marianna, said Terry Eastin, executive director of the Big River Strategic Initiative. To allow cyclists access across property lines along the levee, some four dozen specially designed bike gates have been installed on the route.

The Big River Trail follows the Mississippi River more than 70 miles.(Photo: Big River Crossing/Submitted Graphic)

The Big River Trail, using a section of the levee managed by the St. Francis Levee District, is undergoing a "soft opening" in conjunction with the ribbon-cutting for the Harahan boardwalk, Eastin said.

The trail eventually could become part of a cross-country biking and hiking route planned for the levee system along the entire Mississippi — from the headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

In addition to the Big River Trail, officials in Arkansas are developing the Delta Regional River Park, which will lie in the floodplain between the Harahan and the Hernando DeSoto bridges. Construction on the first park trails begin Oct. 31, with completion expected next spring.

Initially, the park will contain a 5-mile-plus trail loop extending to the river and around Dacus Lake, said Paul Luker, director of planning and development for West Memphis. The trails will be established along existing Crittenden County roads and easements.

Eventually, the park could include restored wetlands and elevated boardwalks, Luker said.

"This is just the first phase of a vision that will take some time to build out," he said.

Aside from the connections with the Big River Trail and the paths through the river park, the Harahan boardwalk could put Memphis on the map for a coast-to-coast bike route, Shaffer said.

"It creates a lot of opportunities," he said.

The grand opening celebration includes food and entertainment beginning at 1 p.m. on the West Memphis side of the bridge and at 4 p.m. at Martyrs Park in Memphis. From around noon until 3 p.m., Union Pacific's No. 844 steam locomotive, which traveled 1,200 miles from Wyoming, will be on display at East Carolina Avenue and South Third Street. A fireworks display is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. All events are free to the public.